Monday, July 4, 2011

Celebrating with Lobster

Sometimes I just don't feel very American. Its not that I'm anti-America (truth is, I love being an American), but there are many times that I feel the rest of the United States levies a special penalty against me (and everyone else who lives in the 808). For example, many retailers in the continental U.S. will not extend free shipping offers to Hawaii addresses. In fact, many take advantage of the opportunity to gouge us. This is why I try to limit my online purchases to websites that offer reasonable shipping charges to Hawaii: Amazon, Origins, Crocs, PT's Coffee, Petco, Arcata Pets, Apple, Verizon, just to name a few. There have been many times where I've had a full cart and attempted to check out, only to go into cardiac arrest when the shipping charges were added. Okay, enough of my rant!

Today, most of my fellow Americans will be celebrating Independence Day/Fourth of July. In Hawaii, typical celebrations involve some type of beach activity. Up until the County banned tents in Bayfront last year, people would camp out for days prior to July 4th just to get prime temporary real estate for viewing the fireworks (lit on Coconut Island). Liliuokalani Gardens is always packed on this day, as it offers an even closer view of the fireworks. This is when you know summer has arrived.

Summer means its time to dress down and beat the heat with cool and refreshing foods. A throwback to my Seattle days is having strawberry shortcake for dessert. Every street fair had a strawberry shortcake booth. Not long after my Seattle days, I took a summer trip to visit Aunty Janice in Lanham, Maryland, just outside the Beltway from Washington, DC. The Maryland trip turned out to be a conduit to the most awesome seafood . . . raw clams & oysters, crab cakes, soft shell crab. . . but no lobster. I guess I needed to go further north for my all-time favorite seafood.

Its apparent I won't be going to Maine soon. In fact, I don't think I'll be leaving my house anytime soon. No, I'm not under self-imposed house arrest like I was last year. I was told that the lazy, good-for-nothing hard-working police officers have set up road blocks all over Hilo to entrap ticket drivers who may have consumed too much alcohol. This being a holiday, I began celebrating early in the day (cranberry juice with Ketel One Citroen). I don't think my employer would look kindly at a DUI on my record.

Nope, I won't be going anywhere today. I'll be staying at home and relaxing. I have a whole menagerie to keep me company. And I also have a decadent lobster salad sandwich waiting for me.

This may seem like a no-brainer, but its a reminder to people to keep things simple. The lobster is very flavorful, so adding fillers is discouraged. In fact, some purists may even opt out of the vegetables. These people will also likely pooh-pooh the use of bread other than hot dog buns, which are traditionally split down the top-middle and filled with the lobster salad.
*purchased at Costco. Comes pre-packaged in 2 lb. bags. As you might have noticed in the 2nd picture, lobster pieces come scored, simplifying the shelling process. Most claws just have 1 piece of cartilage in them.

Sometimes I just don't feel very American. Its not that I'm anti-America (truth is, I love being an American), but there are many times that I feel the rest of the United States levies a special penalty against me (and everyone else who lives in the 808). For example, many retailers in the continental U.S. will not extend free shipping offers to Hawaii addresses. In fact, many take advantage of the opportunity to gouge us. This is why I try to limit my online purchases to websites that offer reasonable shipping charges to Hawaii: Amazon, Origins, Crocs, PT's Coffee, Petco, Arcata Pets, Apple, Verizon, just to name a few. There have been many times where I've had a full cart and attempted to check out, only to go into cardiac arrest when the shipping charges were added. Okay, enough of my rant!

Today, most of my fellow Americans will be celebrating Independence Day/Fourth of July. In Hawaii, typical celebrations involve some type of beach activity. Up until the County banned tents in Bayfront last year, people would camp out for days prior to July 4th just to get prime temporary real estate for viewing the fireworks (lit on Coconut Island). Liliuokalani Gardens is always packed on this day, as it offers an even closer view of the fireworks. This is when you know summer has arrived.

Summer means its time to dress down and beat the heat with cool and refreshing foods. A throwback to my Seattle days is having strawberry shortcake for dessert. Every street fair had a strawberry shortcake booth. Not long after my Seattle days, I took a summer trip to visit Aunty Janice in Lanham, Maryland, just outside the Beltway from Washington, DC. The Maryland trip turned out to be a conduit to the most awesome seafood . . . raw clams & oysters, crab cakes, soft shell crab. . . but no lobster. I guess I needed to go further north for my all-time favorite seafood.

Its apparent I won't be going to Maine soon. In fact, I don't think I'll be leaving my house anytime soon. No, I'm not under self-imposed house arrest like I was last year. I was told that the lazy, good-for-nothing hard-working police officers have set up road blocks all over Hilo to entrap ticket drivers who may have consumed too much alcohol. This being a holiday, I began celebrating early in the day (cranberry juice with Ketel One Citroen). I don't think my employer would look kindly at a DUI on my record.

Nope, I won't be going anywhere today. I'll be staying at home and relaxing. I have a whole menagerie to keep me company. And I also have a decadent lobster salad sandwich waiting for me.

This may seem like a no-brainer, but its a reminder to people to keep things simple. The lobster is very flavorful, so adding fillers is discouraged. In fact, some purists may even opt out of the vegetables. These people will also likely pooh-pooh the use of bread other than hot dog buns, which are traditionally split down the top-middle and filled with the lobster salad.
*purchased at Costco. Comes pre-packaged in 2 lb. bags. As you might have noticed in the 2nd picture, lobster pieces come scored, simplifying the shelling process. Most claws just have 1 piece of cartilage in them.

3 comments:

Hi Kikukat! Your lobster roll looks fantastic! I don't like a whole lot of fillers in the actual lobster mixture but having a little bit of crunch on top is greatand I like the idea of using the cucumbers. What a nice way to offset the the mayo and lobster.

Hehe, funny I feel the same thing about ordering from stores in Hawaii. I alway think about ordering a bunch of crack seeds but then see the cost to ship in here and I think, uh...I'll just wait until the next time I'm there. :-)

@CAB-I never thought about the shipping FROM Hawaii to the mainland! I saw your crack seed post, and now I'm ono for rock salt plum. I usually prefer the drier crack seed varieties, but there is nothing like a good rock salt plum where you can see the salt chunks.